T-1 WORLD CUP/English

A Peek into Akki’s Home!

Have you read the talk session article “Which one is going to win ?”
The following is a comment that Zenta Nishida, an associate editor for the magazine “Casa Brutus”, made in this past article.

As in Nishida’s comment, Gugi Akiyama, known to us as Akki, lives in a house designed by Jun Aoki, in a quiet neiborhood in Tokyo.
His house is published in a book titled “G“, a work done by photographer Takashi Honma.
A house just right to do some shooting!

The idea for this photo shoot came from Akki himself.
We did some photo shoots with his wife wearing Jun Aoki’s design, and his daughter Chiyoko wearing Akki’s t-shirt MounT-FUJI.
A whole collaboration of t-shirts and Jun Aoki’s architecture!

Enjoy the happy air of Akki’s family captured in the photos!

──	What do you think of Aoki’s t-shirt, Akki?
Akki	It’s a design that well represents Aoki’s work. Simple, but has a surprise. I think the stitches in the back is very likely of Aoki, his sense in design is highlighted in it.

──	It’s the simplest of all the T-1 designs this year.
Akki	He decided to go with this “almost completely white” t-shirt, yes.
Chiyoko	I’m Shinnosuke! (copying a character from an animation, towards Akki)

──	Which other t-shirt do you like among the T-1 t-shirts?
Akki	If I were to buy some myself, I would buy Stefan Sagmeister’s t-shirt, and also Oded Ezer’s t-shirt. They’re both just simply cool. Oh, and Kam Tang’s t-shirt is really cute too.
Chiyoko	Jump! Jump!

Akki	What are these numbers on Taku’s t-shirt? The angle that Japanese people bow?
──	That’s a new answer!
Akki	The idea of Usman’s t-shirt is really interesting. Kashiwa’s t-shirt shows his power and energy as a creator.

Akki	A friend of a friend bought my t-shirts for his parents who engage in farming. It’s really great to think about people who farm wearing a t-shirt of Mount Fuji. It makes me really happy.
──	When we met Jun Miura the other day, he said that your t-shirt was really nice!
Akki	Really? That makes me happy too!

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Akki and his wife watched their daughter as she frolics around, delighted to wear a t-shirt that her father designed.
It was such a pleasant photo shoot!
Thank you, Akki family!

Akki sent us an animation where MounT-FUJI spins around.
Have a look!

Click the image and move your mouse to look at MounT-FUJI from an angle you wish!
Thank you again, Akki!

2006/7/7

Have you solved the quiz? 104.5 degrees.

“104.5 degrees” by Taku Satoh.
With the quiz on the front and its fresh color, the t-shirt is ranked as one of the most popular t-shirt. Definitely in the winning range!

Have you figured out the answer to this quiz?
The clue from Taku reads “an important angle for us” on the tag.

The tilt of the earth’s axis?
The refraction factor of light?
The angle we bow?

Everyone comes up with different guesses.
So we visited Taku to ask him for more clues. Here’s the interview on movie.
Do you know the answer to the quiz now? The color of the t-shirt is a clue. If you look it up on the web, the answer is there for you.
What? You’re still not sure of the answer?
Okay, let me mumble to myself for a while..

…”The biggest clue appears in the movie”

Okay, end of mumbling.
I’m sure you’ve solved the quiz now!
But there’s more to this quiz. Taku gave us another quiz to solve.

Here’s the new quiz.

Explain the 5 steps of how this angle and the t-shirt becomes related
Don’t ask me, I have no idea! Nobody at our T-1 office have any clue!
Those of you who’ve figured out the answer to this super-difficult new quiz, send us your answer, now! Please!

A new quiz has popped out from the 104.5 degrees quiz.

We’ll announce your answers here in the near future! Until then!

2006/7/6

Special Interview: Author Otsuichi and Shin Sobue

We found writer Otsuichi wearing Shin Sobue’s “Akahara T-shirt” from last years T-1 on an interview article on Da Vinci magazine July issue.
Why the “Akahara T-shirt”? Otsuichi?
Our crew set out for an interview!

Sobue joined our crew later on, and their talk goes on to this year’s T-1 WORLD CUP…
The “poetic” words of a writer and the “inspirational” words of a book cover designer meet and create a world only they can create!

──	Why were you wearing Sobue’s t-shirt in your interview?
Otsuichi	My friend wrote an article on T-1 in the magazine “Invitation”, and he told me about the project. I didn’t know about it till then.
──	Uh huh
Otsuichi	Sobue’s design of the winding thing inside the ear caught my eye…
──	The Sanhan (ear canal) t-shirt!
Otsuichi	Yes, it really got me. I ended up buying the Sanhan T-shirt and Tom’s blue t-shirt (TOM-2006-iPod), the winner of last year.
──	Did you!
Otsuichi	Sobue became the designer of the cover for my new novel “Guns and Chocolates”, so I wore his t-shirt to our meeting. When he saw me wearing his t-shirt, he gave me his other design, the Akahara t-shirt. I decided to wear it to all the interviews on my new novel.
──	That answers our question! But you two hadn’t met at the point you bought the Sanhan t-shirt, right?
Otsuichi	Not at all. Of course I knew his name, but I hadn’t met him in person yet. When I actually got to meet him, I was a bit nervous. He’s such a famous figure. But actually, he was nice. I’m really glad he was a nice person
──	(laugh) Actually, he’s a really funny guy.
Otsuichi	Yes, totally.

──	Why did you choose Sanhan t-shirt last year?
Otsuichi	Well… Maybe it looked a bit awkward. At first I thought it was a snail. But then I read that the theme for the design was “a t-shirt to go with iPod”, and I understood his design. I liked the mismatching combination of the realistic illustration and the pleasant colors.
──	The Sanhan t-shirt is printed with four different colors. The patterns are printed overlaying each other, rotated by 90, 60 and 45 degrees in angle. This creates the complex colors of this t-shirt. Even the craft workers couldn’t guess the overall image while printing. Sobue’s deep knowledge and experience on printing enables a design like this.
Otsuichi	Yes, I didn’t expect this Akahara t-shirt to be so complex either. The ink being foamy, everything is so thought out in detail.
──	Sobue scanned the bubbles made by shampoo or something and used it as the design for that foamy part.
Otsuichi	Is that so!
──	Yes. That’s why the bubbles look so real.
Otsuichi	Scanning shampoo bubbles… I see… wow.
──	We heard that someone saw Sobue scanning cast-off shells of cicadas. Lots of them.
Otsuichi	Really? By the way, with this pattern of the lizard skin on my stomach, it reminds me of some tribal tradition…. Or when I go out on my midnight jogging wearing this, I feel like a lizard running around the city!
──	(laugh) How was it working with Sobue?
Otsuichi	He’s really into details. The cover for my novel “Guns and Chocolates” is like a package of expensive chocolate. It’s like you can use it as an interior decoration ornament. I was surprised, and am very happy.

“Guns and Chocolates” by Otsuichi (Kodansha)

──	Did you tell Sobue your ideas or concepts for this design?
Otsuichi	No, not this time. I told the illustrator my image of the illustration. Sobue probably read my novel, got the illustration, and designed this.
──	A book cover designer has become a T-shirt designer also….
Otsuichi	He can put himself in totally different worlds. By the way, I’m still amazed at the story of scanning the shells of cicadas…
──	Which one of the 24 t-shirts do you think will win?
Otsuichi	Let me see… This typography t-shirt is eye catching. What does the 104.5 degrees stand for? The tilt of the earth’s axis?
──	Well… we can’t give you the answer. Solving the quiz is part of the design. It’s supposedly a very important angle for us.
Otsuichi	I need to figure out the answer.
──	How do you like Sobue’s design this year?
Otsuichi	It’s very chic. It’s like Japanese lacquer craft. Very nice. very cool.
Sobue	Hi guys!
──	Hi Sobue!

Sobue	Sorry I’m late. Long time no see. How’ve you been doing? Otsuichi?
Otsuichi	I’m doing great. Thank you again for the great work.
──	Sobue’s wearing the Sanhan t-shirt!
Otsuichi	I’m glad I chose the Akahara t-shirt.
Sobue	Don’t worry, I brought my Akahara t-shirt also, just in case you happen to choose the Sanhan t-shirt!
All	So well prepared!
──	We hear that many people tell him what a nice t-shirt he’s wearing, when he’s wearing the Akahara t-shirt.
Otsuichi	It stands out, you know. I usually do a lot of logical calculation when writing a novel, but when I wear this t-shirt, I feel like I can write in a more wild and animalistic way.
Sobue	Yes! Wild and animalistic is the word.
Otsuichi	Having a reptile patterned stomach like this it’s like a tribal painting done when going out hunting. I feel like I’ve become a lizard.
Sobue	I have to interrupt… It’s a newt, an amphibian. It’s a Cynops Pyrrhogaster.
All	(laugh)
──	We were just saying that your design this year is really chic!
Otsuichi	I really like it. It’s like the universe.
Sobue	Thank you! Last year’s t-shirts were pretty high spirited, so this year I decided to create a “requiem t-shirt”. I hope a lot of people would want to wear it.

──	By the way, which t-shirt do you think will win?
Sobue	Mine, of course! But if it weren’t mine… this one, maybe? (Points at Kashiwa Sato’s JPNAA)
──	Can you please choose some t-shirts for the readers?
Sobue	Okay… If I were to buy one, I would choose this （Blue Baby）！ But actually, I would choose my t-shirt!
──	Ur… okay. Please advertise your t-shirt.
Sobue	Sure! First of all, it’s really black!
All	(laugh)
Sobue	This black is a black that glows! The lines draw the midnight pool. See the shimmers of the water surface? I drew this with a ball point pen you know.
Otsuichi	It’s very different when you look at it close.
Sobue	The good thing about this t-shirt is that you can wear it to a party or on funeralistic occasions too!
──	Funeralistic occasions…??
Sobue	A t-shirt can become a foundation for communication. It’s like saying “this is who I am!” But this t-shirt, the “sleeping fish”, is a bit different. There’s a hidden concept to it, “communicating with yourself”.
Otsuichi	Really? It does have a certain “quiet feeling” to it.
Sobue	It’s a dream of a goldfish. A fish that doesn’t blink is dreaming, sleeping in a large deep pool. Not in a small aquarium, but in a pool. You can become a home for the goldfish, and you want to make sure they have a quiet and relaxing atmosphere. Wear this, and become a pool for them. The two goldfish are sleeping, so it’s good to move quietly for them. This is a t-shirt for taking some time to get in touch with yourself, or when you want to be quiet and feel the sound of the wind.
──	Yourself becoming a pool. What an amazing idea. There’s a note of death in the air.
Sobue	Yes, yes. “Death” exists, and that is why “life” exists. By the way, the dream is the dream of the small goldfish on the tag. It’s a nice t−shirt, a mellow one. Try it on!

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Thank you very much! We can’t wait to see the results!

So that is what the truth of this t-shirt was.
Remember to check out Otsuichi’s t-shirt on his interviews!

The new novel by Otsuichi, “Guns and Chocolates”, which the cover design was done by Sobue, is on sale in bookstores now. You can purchase the book on Amazon.com also.

2006/7/6

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